I shan’t go into a drawn out conversation about my reluctance to post promotional street art, because I did all that about a week ago, and would be in danger of becoming (more) boring. I choose to concentrate on the left-hand side of this piece by Awkward, painted on the side of a graffiti shop and gallery ‘Veeez’, which does a great job with supporting the culture in and around Bristol. Veeez is also an artist who has features a number of times in Natural Adventures.
Awkward, North Street, Bristol, July 2024
The Awkward character is exactly what you’d expect from the artist. A kind of skeletal face painted in an irregular style, with enormous eyes and a speech bubble with the work AWK-WARD written in it. There is plenty of movement generated by the little wavy yellow lines around the outline. Another one for the gallery.
It is a rare privilege to witness a character artist segue so seamlessly into graffiti writing, and Bloem, with this outstanding piece, proves what I already knew, that she is a natural. Not only has Bloem managed to give writing a go, but she has created a very neat and tidy piece, of a standard that many wannabe graffiti writers never reach.
Bloem, M32 roundabout, Bristol, July 2024
Her colour selections are excellent and blended expertly as they transition through the letter fills. The letters are very nicely proportioned and regular enough, without being too regimented. All the borders and lines are clean and crisp, patterns simple and well executed, and the white highlights do enough to create a 3D look to the writing. It helps that the graffiti writing is presented on a white background with some black spots, creating contrast and framing everything very nicely. I very much look forward to more experimentation from Bloem.
I’m not too sure how it happened, but somehow this piece by the fabulous John D’oh got caught up in my production line, and was supposed to have been posted quite a while ago. Perhaps it feels appropriate that I should post it today, coming so soon after President Biden has said that he will not stand for the presidency in the forthcoming election.
John D’oh, M32 Spot, Bristol, May 2024
This simple ‘spot the difference’ stencil, highlights Joe Biden’s apparently inconsistent approach to the bombing of Gaza by Israel and the bombing of Ukraine by Russia. Turning a blind eye (sponsoring) one and condemning overtly the other. Heaven only knows what might happen if Donald Trump gets a second term. What a mess. Nice commentary piece once again from the talented Mt John D’oh.
I get a little bat squeak of excitement when I see a piece that is obviously by an artist new to me, tempered by mild anxiety that I don’t know who they are and may not get to post their work until I find out more. Everything happened quite quickly with this wonderful piece by Nuke, thanks to Instagram, and I am thrilled to be able to post this debut piece for Natural Adventures.
Nuke, M32 Spot, Bristol, June 2024
This is a very interesting and compelling graffiti writing/character combination piece that has an interesting quality to it. It has a ‘soft-focus’ appearance and yet is clearly defied and masterfully painted. The 20 years refers to the length of time that Nuke has been painting, and his experience certainly plays out in this piece. I don’t know if he was passing through or whether he is staying in Bristol, but this is one of two recent pieces painted in the city by the artist.
Just as I was beginning to think that Minto was going on a bit of a ‘slow-down’ he comes up trumps with several new pieces in a relatively short period of time. This is an interesting piece that was created during a paint jam at the roundabout. I have noticed that Minto has changed his style a little recently and appears to be undergoing a ‘period’ of deconstruction, where the elements of his work appear to be a little fragmented, as if several thoughts are going on all at once.
Minto, M32 roundabout, Bristol, June 2024
Concealed within the piece are the letters MINTO, with the ‘INT’ being reasonably clear, but the ‘M’ and ‘O’ are more tricky to see. For clarity, he has signed it in yellow bubble writing on the left. The colourful piece is full of eclectic decorations and a couple of characters, but for me lacks a little cohesion. The blue and grey background I would guess has some kind of meaning, but it is a little lost on me. Lot more to come from Minto soon.
In Bristol, there are dozens, literally, of writers bubbling under the surface. Many of these are not as well known as some of the more established graffiti writers, but every once in a while one of them breaks cover and rises up a level or two. This often coincides (unsurprisingly) with their appearance on Natural Adventures. Omie is one of those artists whose work I have noticed and admire.
Omie, Greenbank, Bristol, July 2024
The refreshing thing about Omie’s work is that every piece is completely different from the last in style and composition, which keeps things very interesting. These heavy block letters spelling out OMIE in dark grey-green tones are given extra weight by a chunky 3D drop-shadow. Some orange decoration around the outside provides plenty of contrast to help the piece stand out. Nice work from Omie.
This is the second small gallery of Cheltenham art photographed at the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023. I am posting this as the 2024 festival begins at the end of this week, and I felt it would be good to share some of last year’s pieces as a bit of a warm up.
Not all the pieces were painted last year – the Alex Lucas mural (feature image) was painted a few years ago, but I only got round to photographing it last year. I hope to be visiting Cheltenham for this year’s festival alongside Paul H, and am getting pretty excited about it all. Enjoy the gallery:
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Alex Lucas, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
This piece was actually painted in 2020 for the Cheltenham Paint Festival. Still looking magnificent.
Ajax Piper, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
I don’t know an awful lot about Ajax Piper, but I believe he is a British artist who hasn’t been painting for too long, or so his website might suggest.
Wispa, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
A wonderfully colourful and vibrant piece by RBF artist Wispa (featured reasonably regularly on Natural Adventures).
3rdeye, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
3rdeye has produced this typically mysterious piece with one of his creature characters and plenty of eyes.
Curtis Hylton, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
One of the featured artists at the CPF 2023 was Curtis Hylton, who smashed it with this outstanding large mural on the side wall of the Holiday Inn Express hotel in the centre of town.
I will need to do a few more posts from the CPF 2023, and some more unposted pieces from Upfests passim. So much to do and so little time to do it.
Everything is catching up with me. The Cheltenham Paint Festival begins next weekend, although I believe some pieces are already well underway. The problem for me is that I still have loads of pieces from last year’s festival that I haven’t posted, so here are a few pieces that I’d like to share by way of a warm-up act for next week. I will do this as a mini gallery, because I don’t have time to write up each individual piece.
Paul Monsters, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Bristol artist Paul Monsters doing what he does best.
Heat One and Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Shade One, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
superb collaboration from Shade One and Heat One.
Joe Greenaway, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
An interesting piece from Joe Greenway
Philth, Cheltenham Paint Festival, Cheltenham, July 2023
Finally an outstanding floral piece from Philth, which was tricky to photograph because of the car parked directly in front of it.
More from the Cheltenham Paint Festival 2023 in tomorrow’s post.
Natural adventures 